Television message system

ABSTRACT

A television message system is provided that allows users at user television equipment devices that are connected to a television distribution facility to transmit messages to each other relating to a television program or other suitable subject. The television message system permits users to participate in evaluations, contests, promotions, and surveys related to a television program while watching that television program. The television message system also permits users to compose and send a message to a television program entity. Users can send messages through the television message system to users at personal computers who are connected to the user&#39;s television distribution facility through a communications network. The television message system also allows a user to purchase a gift related to television programming for a recipient. The gift may be an electronic gift certificate for pay-per-view programming. The television message system may be based on an interactive television program guide or a set-top box application implemented on a set-top box.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/408,747, filed Apr. 21, 2006, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/356,245, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/099,301, filed Aug. 26,1998, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to television message systems, and moreparticularly, to techniques for supporting the transmission of messagesin a television environment that may include an interactive televisionprogram guide.

A popular aspect of the Internet and other networking environmentsrelates to e-mail messages. A network or Internet user can send e-mailmessages to other users of the network or the Internet. Messages aredelivered to a server where they are held until downloaded by a clientsuch as a personal computer. The recipient of a message can access it atany time from the server and read it at his convenience.

Television programs are sometimes discussed in e-mail messages. However,there is generally no way in which users of a traditional e-mail messagesystem may easily view a television program while exchanging messagesabout that program. A user might locate a television in the same room asthe user's personal computer, but such an arrangement would be awkwardto view. Moreover, many households locate their televisions in theliving room, but are reluctant to locate their computers in the livingroom.

Although personal computers may be provided with tuner cards that allowtelevision signals to be displayed on the computer monitor, manytelevision viewers would prefer to view television on a traditionaltelevision set. Television sets generally offer greater viewing areasthan computer monitors, so that users need not sit nearly as close to atelevision screen as they would a computer monitor. Televisions sets arealso typically located in rooms within the home that are more suitablefor watching television than where computers are typically located.

A system that attempts to integrate aspects of the Internet with thetelevision viewing experience is available from WebTV Networks, Inc. ofPalo Alto, Calif. The WebTV system permits television viewers to accessthe Internet through a WebTV Plus Receiver connected to their televisionsets. The WebTV Plus Receiver enables users to surf the World Wide Webon their television by connecting their televisions to the web-basedWebTV Network through a standard phone line. The WebTV System permitsusers to view television program listings and web sites related totelevision programs that appear in the program listings.

The WebTV system also provides TV Crossover Links that allow users toaccess web sites that are related to television programs. The WebTV PlusReceiver detects data such as web links (i.e., universal resourcelocators (URL)) that is embedded in the video broadcast and notifiesusers with a TV Crossover Link watermark on the television screen. TheTV Crossover Links permit users to link to web sites through theInternet related to the television program that the user is watching.The user can view the web site and the television program simultaneouslythrough the WebPIP picture-in-picture function. If the web site supportse-mail features, the user might then send an e-mail message through theInternet while watching a television program. The WebTV system alsoprovides users with e-mail accounts for sending and receiving e-mailthrough the Internet. A user can access a Web Home page from which hecan send and receive e-mail.

Interactive television program guides implemented on set-top boxes allowusers to view television program listings on their televisions. Suchprogram guides allow users to view television program listings indifferent display formats and to perform various other functions. Forexample, a user may instruct the program guide to display achannel-ordered grid of current program listings. The user may also usethe program guide to search for programs in a desired programmingcategory such as sports, movies, news, or the like. If desired, theprogram guide may be used to order pay-per-view programming.

Previously known systems have not provided an integrated system allowingtelevision viewers to view television programming and to exchangemessages with other television viewers independent of the Internet.Previously known systems also have not provided television viewers withthe opportunity to send messages to exclusively other viewers of atelevision program or channel. Previously known interactive programguides have not contained a feature that allows television viewers toexchange messages with each other.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide atelevision message system that provides a television viewer with anopportunity to view television programming and to exchange messagesrelated to the television programming to other television viewers thatdoes not rely solely on the Internet.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an interactivetelevision program guide that contains message features.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished in accordancewith the principles of the present invention by providing a televisionmessage system that receives television programming over acommunications path from a television distribution facility such as acable system headend. The television message system allows users totransmit messages relating to a given television program to users whoare currently watching that television program.

The message system allows messages to be transmitted between users atuser television equipment devices. The user television equipment devicesmay be connected to a television distribution facility (such as a cablesystem headend) by coaxial cables or other suitable communications pathsthat carry television signals. In an illustrative configuration, thesystem eliminates the need for additional communications pathsphysically separate from the paths that carry television signalbroadcast channels for the transmission of messages.

The television message system of the present invention permits users toparticipate in a television program-related contest, promotion, orsurvey while watching a television program by sending and receivingmessages through the television message system. The television messagesystem also permits users to evaluate a television program and send theevaluation to a television program entity such as the TV channel oranother user as a recommendation.

The television message system of the present invention permits users tocompose and send a message to a television program entity such as theprogram producers or a program cast member. In addition, users can sendmessages through the television message system to other users, such asother users of an interactive program guide, Internet users, PC users,etc., who are connected to the user's television distribution facilitythrough a communications network. The messages can be composed by theuser, or the messages can be standard messages such as a remindermessage to watch a particular program. Message may be composed on aninteractive TV screen or on a display remote control device.

The television message system also allows a user to purchase a giftrelated to television programming for a recipient.

The television message system may be based on an interactive televisionprogram guide implemented on the set-top box. If desired, the system maybe implemented on other suitable user television equipment such as asatellite receiver, an advanced television receiver (e.g. a highdefinitive television or HDTV receiver), a television into which set-topbox circuitry is integrated or the like.

Further features of the present invention, its nature and variousadvantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a television message system in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram of a user television equipment device having a userinterface based on a wireless keyboard in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 1C is a diagram of a television screen keyboard user interface inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1D is a diagram of a user interface television display screenproviding a list of standard messages or words in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of a system configuration in which user televisionequipment devices of multiple television distribution facilities areconnected via a television program entity in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2B is a system diagram showing how multiple user televisionequipment devices may be connected to a television distribution facilityand a separate server via neighborhood networks in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how multiple television distributionfacilities and user communications equipment devices may be connectedvia a communications network in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen containing a reduced-size version of a television programfor providing a user with an opportunity to compose a message and totransmit the message to a television program entity in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for providing a user with an opportunity to send a message to atelevision program entity in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for entering user profile information in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 6B is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for entering a user's name and address in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 6C is a depiction of an illustrative address book for users inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing a user with an opportunity to evaluate atelevision program in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for providing a user with an opportunity to evaluate atelevision program in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing the user with an opportunity to participatein a survey relating to television programming in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a depiction of an illustrative television display screen forproviding the user with an opportunity to participate in a promotionrelated to a television program in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing the user with an opportunity to participatein a contest related to a television program in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for providing a user with an opportunity to participate in atelevision contest, promotion, or survey in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a depiction of an illustrative television display screen fordisplaying interactive features available for television programs inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing a user with an opportunity to send areminder message to another user in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for displaying a reminder message received from anotheruser in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for providing a user with an opportunity to create a remindermessage to be sent to another user in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing a user with an opportunity to send amessage to another user in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for displaying a message received by a user in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a depiction of a television message system display screen forproviding a user with an opportunity to send a message to other usersbased on television program-related criteria in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for providing a user with an opportunity send a message toother users based upon television program-related criteria in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing a user with an opportunity to purchase atelevision program-related gift for another user in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 22 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing a user with an opportunity to purchaseprogram-related merchandise in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a depiction of an illustrative television message systemdisplay screen for providing a user with an opportunity to enter giftrecipient identity and address information in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing steps involved in an illustrativeapproach for providing a user with an opportunity to purchase a giftthrough the television message system in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 25 is a depiction of a display remote control with televisionmessaging features in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An illustrative television message system 10 in accordance with thepresent invention is shown in FIG. 1A. Main facility 12 may contain aprogram guide database 14 for storing program guide information such astelevision program guide listings data, pay-per-view orderinginformation, etc. Database 14 allows system 10 to support an interactivetelevision program guide if desired. Although the television messagefeatures of the present invention may be provided using a televisionmessage system without a program guide, certain aspects of the inventionwill be described primarily in the context of an interactive televisionprogram guide system configuration for specificity and clarity.

Information from database 14 may be transmitted to televisiondistribution facility 16 via communications link 18. Link 18 may be asatellite link, a telephone network link, a fiber optic link, a cablelink, a microwave link, a combination of such links, or any othersuitable communications path.

Television distribution facility 16 is a facility for distributingtelevision signals to users, such as a cable system headend. Someaspects of the invention may be implemented using a televisiondistribution facility such as a broadcast distribution facility, or asatellite television distribution facility. Only one televisiondistribution facility 16 is shown in FIG. 1A to avoid over-complicatingthe drawings. In general, however, main facility 12 distributesinformation to multiple television distribution facilities.

The program guide information transmitted by main facility 12 totelevision distribution facility 16 includes television program listingsdata such as program times, channels, titles, descriptions, etc. Theinformation transmitted from main facility 12 may also includeinformation on interactive message features (e.g. television programcontests, surveys, evaluations, promotions, etc.) that are available forparticular television programs or channels.

If desired, some of the program guide data and other TV messageinformation may be provided using data sources at facilities other thanmain facility 12. For example, data relating to available televisionprogram-specific message features (e.g. a contest, promotion, survey,etc.) may be provided by a television program entity associated with atelevision channel, or other facility that is separate from mainfacility 12 and television distribution facility 16.

Television distribution facility 16 distributes program guide data andother information to the user television equipment 20 of multiple usersvia communications paths 24. Communication paths 24 are preferablybidirectional to support messaging and preferably have sufficientbandwidth to allow television distribution facility 16 to distributescheduled television programming, pay programming, messages, and othervideo and audio information to user television equipment 20 in additionto non-video program guide information and messages. The messagessupported by communication paths 24 may be text-based or, if morebandwidth is available, may be audio or video messages. If televisiondistribution facility 16 is a cable system headend, communications paths24 may be based on coaxial cable or fiber optics or the like. Iftelevision distribution facility 16 is a satellite system or broadcastsystem, unidirectional paths may involve transmitting information infree space. Bidirectional paths may have a free-space downlink to thehome and a telephone line or cable or fiber optic return path from thehome to the television distribution facility 16.

User television equipment may be based, for example, on a set-top box orother such device. For clarity, many aspects of the invention aredescribed in connection with this illustrative arrangement, although anyother suitable hardware arrangement for the user television equipment 20may be used if desired.

Multiple television and audio channels (analog, digital, or both analogand digital) may be provided to user television equipment devices 20(including, e.g., set-top boxes 26) via communications paths 24. If eachpath 24 includes a number of traditional analog television channels, oneor more of these channels may be used to support a number of digitalchannels. The bandwidth of each analog channel that is used to supportdigital channels may support ten or more of such digital channels.Two-way digital channels typically require more bandwidth than one-waydigital channels. Such two-way digital channels may support two-waycommunications in the form of messages between set-top boxes 26 and aserver (e.g. at television distribution facility 16). If two-waycommunications between set-top boxes 26 and television distributionfacility 16 involve only text or audio signals, the bandwidth requiredto support such two-way communications may be substantially less thanthe bandwidth required to support two-way communications involvingvideo.

Messages may be distributed along communications path 24 using anynumber of suitable techniques. For example, text messages may bedistributed using out-of-band channels on paths 24 using out-of-bandmodulators. Video or audio messages may be more efficiently transmittedusing one or more digital channels on path 24. Such digital channels mayalso be used for distributing text and graphics. Any suitablecommunications protocols may be used for sending messages and the like.For example, communications may be analog or digital, synchronous orasynchronous, pocket-based, Internet protocol transmissions, etc.

Dedicated digital or analog channels, or at least an allocated portionof the available bandwidth in communications paths 24, may be used forthe transmission of messages. Such dedicated channels may be separatefrom the channels used for transmitting television program broadcastsignals to the user television equipment.

Because communications paths 24 support transport of messages betweenuser television equipment devices 20 and television distributionfacility 16, the arrangement of system 10 may eliminate the need forseparate telephone lines connected to user television equipment 20 totransmit messages (although such telephone lines may be used withcertain aspects of the invention if desired). If desired, televisionprogramming may be transmitted to user television equipment 20 along onecommunications path such as a satellite link from a satellite system,while messages to and from the user are distributed over a secondcommunications path such as a telephone or cable.

Television distribution facility 16 preferably has a server or othersuitable computing equipment or audio or video equipment such as audiovoice mail equipment (herein collectively referred to as messageequipment 22) for supporting the transmission of messages between users.For clarity, certain aspects of the invention are simply described asbeing implemented using a message server although these aspects of theinvention are also applicable to other types of message equipment. Themessage equipment 22 (e.g., a message server) may be capable of handlingmessages involving text, graphics, video, or audio data. If desired, thebandwidth requirements of message equipment 22 may be reduced byrestricting messages to text, audio, and/or graphics, rather thanincluding video. Message equipment 22 in television distributionfacility 16 may be configured in a client-server arrangement in whicheach piece of user television equipment 20 (i.e., each user televisionequipment device 20) acts as a client processor.

Each user has a receiver, which is typically a set-top box such asset-top box 26, but which may also be other suitable televisionequipment into which circuitry similar to set-top box circuitry has beenintegrated. For example, user television equipment 20 may be based on anadvanced television receiver such as a high-definition television (HDTV)receiver or other such television-based platform. A set-top box mayinclude a DOCSIS modem for use in two-way communication to and from aserver or television distribution facility. For clarity, the presentinvention will be described primarily in the context of user televisionequipment 20 that is based on set-top boxes 26. As shown in FIG. 1A,each set-top box 26 may have memory 25. Memory 25 may be used, forexample, for maintaining a database of program listings data.

Program guide information may be distributed to set-top boxes 26continuously (in real-time), periodically, on request (using aclient-server arrangement), or using a combination of these techniques.Messages may be distributed to set-top boxes 26 in real-time oron-demand (e.g., when a user checks his e-mail or message equipment 22and requests a message for viewing). The message equipment may receivemessages from set-top boxes 26 in real-time or periodically.

Main facility 12 preferably contains a processor to handle informationdistribution tasks. Each set-top box 26 preferably contains a processorto handle tasks associated with implementing an interactive televisionprogram guide application containing television message features or anindependent television messaging application on the set-top box 26(hereinafter collectively referred to as a television messaging set-topbox application or simply a set-top box application). Televisiondistribution facility 16 preferably contains one or more processors(e.g., part of message equipment 22) for tasks associated with thedistribution of messages and for tasks associated with providing programguide data to the program guide on the set-top boxes.

It should be understood that some or all of the functions of the programguide or the messaging set-top box application hereinafter described maybe integrated into an operating system on the set-top box, implementedas a stand-alone application on the set-top box, or performed by aserver (e.g. part of message equipment 22 or separate from thetelevision distribution facility). In client server architecture, theset-top box sends data or requests to the server. The server can storeand process data and send the results of a request back to the usertelevision equipment for further processing, display, or storage. Any ofthe functionality of the set-top box application hereinafter describedmay be implemented using client-server architecture.

Various mechanisms may be used for launching the television messagingset-top box application from a program guide application on the user'sset-top box. One mechanism involves using a hot link to launch thetelevision messaging set-top box application. Hot linking involvesinvoking a non-program-guide application such as television messagingset-top box application with information such as a web site address,e-mail address, program title, or other information that has beenpreselected based on the current content of the program guide or statusof set-top box 26. For example, if the user is watching a program,viewing a program listing, viewing the description of a program, ortaking other action within the program guide related to a given program,channel, type of channel, or the like and the user directs the programguide to launch a non-program-guide application, the program guide maylaunch that non-program-guide application and direct thatnon-program-guide to take an action related to the given program,channel, type of channel, or the like.

Hot links may be activated by dedicated buttons, a launch button, menuoptions, or any other suitable technique. For example, a remote controlmay be provided with a dedicated message button, a dedicated shoppingbutton, and similar buttons associated with other non-program-guideapplications. When the user presses the message button, the programguide launches the television messaging set-top box application anddirects the television messaging set-top box application to set up amessage to a character in the program, a fan club, or other messagerecipient associated with the program. When the user presses a shoppingchannel button, the program guide launches a shopping application (e.g.for purchasing gifts for recipient users) and directs the program guideto preselect merchandise related to the program. Further features of anillustrative hot linking system are described in Ellis et al. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/346,134 filed Jul. 16, 1999 (AttorneyDocket No. UV-85), which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

Each set-top box 26 is typically connected to an optional videocassetterecorder 28 or other such recording device so that selected televisionprograms may be recorded. Each videocassette recorder 28 (or set-top box26) is connected to a television 30. To record a program, set-top box 26tunes to a particular channel and sends control signals to videocassetterecorder 28 (e.g., using an infrared transmitter) that directvideocassette recorder 28 to start and stop recording at the appropriatetimes.

During the use of the television message systems, the televisionmessaging set-top box application on set-top box 26 may display messageson television 30. If the television message system includes aninteractive television program guide, the interactive television programguide may display program listings on television 30. A program guidewith message features may also be used to display the messages. Eachset-top box 26, videocassette recorder 28, and television 30 may becontrolled by one or more user interfaces 32 which may involve a remotecontrol, mouse, trackball, microphone, digital video camera, dedicatedset of buttons, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1B, user interface 32 may contain a wireless keyboard34 that sends signals 36 (e.g. infrared signals) to set-top box 38,which is connected to television 40. The user's input may be displayedas part of a television message system display screen on television 40as the input is entered through wireless keyboard 34. If televisionmessage system 10 is based on an interactive television program guide,the display screen provided on television 40 by set-top box 38 may be onan interactive television program guide display screen. The displayedinteractive television program guide display screen or other programguide display screens provided by the program guides may contain programlistings.

User interface 32 may also be based on a television screen keyboard 50as illustrated in FIG. 1C. The user can select letters from thedisplayed alphabet to compose a message 52. In particular, the user mayselect letters from alphabet keys 54 and spaces from space bar 56. Theuser may select a letter so that it becomes highlighted (such as letterL 58) by pressing arrow keys and an enter key (also called an OK orselect key) on a remote control. Pressing the OK key on the remotecontrol directs the program guide containing message features or theindependent messaging application to place the selected letter adjacentto cursor 62. The user may select SHIFT option 51 to place a capitalletter in message 52. In this way, a user can compose the text of amessage.

If desired, the user may compose messages by selecting from a list ofstandard messages 70 or words 72 displayed in a display screen such asdisplay screen 75, as shown in FIG. 1D. The words or messages may bepredetermined, determined by the user, or both. If determined by theuser, they may be specifically entered by the user into the list, orthey may be automatically saved by the system based on messagespreviously sent by the user. A word or message can be selected bypressing arrow keys on a remote control to place highlight region 76 ontop of a particular word or message such as “message 2” in FIG. 1D. Theuser can then select the highlighted word or message by pressing aremote control enter (or select or OK) key.

System 10 allows users at user television equipment 20 to exchangetelevision program-related messages while watching television. The usermay send messages with system 10 without investing the effort involvedin operating a personal computer and the software that is associatedwith it. In addition, system 10 allows users to retain the high videoquality and channel range of television viewing while exchangingmessages with similarly situated users.

As shown in FIG. 2A, a television program entity 80 may contain amessage server 82 to store messages sent between user televisionequipment 88, 92, and any other such user television equipment. Thetelevision program entity may be a message facility associated with atelevision channel that receives and processes messages sent by users ofuser television equipment devices to a television program or channel.User television equipment devices 88 and 92 are connected viacommunications paths 90 and 94 respectively to television distributionfacilities 84 that are in turn connected to television program entity 80via communication links 86. Communications links 86 may be satellitelinks, telephone network links, fiber optic links, cable links,microwave links, combinations of such links, or any other suitablecommunications path.

Messages may be handled on a server that is not located at thetelevision distribution facility as shown in FIG. 2B. For example,messages may be stored on server 91 and transmitted between usertelevision equipment devices 97 and 98 via neighborhood nodes 95 and 96.User television equipment device 97 are connected to neighborhood node95 via communications path 99, and user television equipment devices 98are connected to neighborhood node 96 via communications path 101.Neighborhood nodes 95 and 96 decrease the bandwidth requirements oncommunications paths 103 for a given number of user television equipmentdevices 97 and 98. Neighborhood nodes 95 and 96 route televisionprogramming from television distribution facility 93 to user televisionequipment 97 and 98. Neighborhood nodes 95 and 96 may also routemessages between server 91 and user television equipment 97 and 98.Neighborhood nodes 95 and 96 may also route requests to perform many ofthe message system functions described herein from user televisionequipment 97 and 98 to server 91. Responses from server 91 are routedback to the appropriate user television equipment device via aneighborhood node.

As shown in FIG. 3, messages can be distributed along communicationpaths 102 from one user television equipment device 100 associated withtelevision distribution facility 104 to another user televisionequipment device 100 associated with that facility using a messageserver 106 located at the facility. The messages sent between two ormore user television equipment devices 100 associated with televisiondistribution facility 104 may be stored on message server 106 intelevision distribution facility 104. An advantage to limiting operationof the message system to individual television distribution facilitiesis that it allows individual cable system operators (for example) tocontrol their systems, and it does not involve coordinating thetransmission of messages related to an on-going television programbetween different geographical areas or different time zones. Ifdesired, messages exchanged by user television equipment 100 can bestored by a message server 108 that is connected to televisiondistribution facility 104 via communications network 110. Communicationsnetwork 110 may be any suitable communications network such as theInternet, a public or private telephone network, a network involvingsatellite link or wireless links, a cable network, etc.

The message system may also be configured so that users at one or moreof user television equipment devices 120 may exchange messages with oneor more of user television equipment devices 100. User televisionequipment 120 is associated with a different television distributionfacility than user television equipment 100. User television equipmentdevices 120 are connected to television distribution facility 116 viacommunications paths 122. Message server 118 may be used to storemessages. The configuration of message server 118 and user televisionequipment 120 may be based on a client-server arrangement. Televisiondistribution facilities 104 and 116 may be connected to each other viacommunications network 110. Messages that are sent between usertelevision equipment 100 and user television equipment 120 may be storedon message servers 106, 108, or 118. If desired, any number oftelevision distribution facilities may be connected together viacommunications network 110 or other such communications networks toallow user television equipment from these television distributionfacilities to exchange messages with each other.

In addition, messages may be transmitted between user televisionequipment 100 or 120 and user communications equipment 114. Usercommunications equipment 114 is connected via communications network 110to television distribution facilities 104 and 116. User communicationsequipment devices 114 can be any number of, e.g., personal computersthat can send and receive messages.

Another aspect of the present invention involves using the televisionmessaging set-top box application to provide the user with anopportunity to send messages related to a television program or channelwhich can be sent to certain recipients. Messages transmitted betweenset-top box application users are sent from one set-top box and storedat a message server. The recipient user's set-top box can download themessage from the message server after logging onto the message server.Once the message has been downloaded onto the recipient's set-top box,the recipient can review the message using message features provided bythe set-top box application. The messages sent in this format may bedelayed in the sense that they are not necessarily received by therecipient immediately after they are sent. The messages can be stored ona message server for a long time until recipients access them. Messagesmay also be sent by a user of a user television equipment device to atelevision program entity such as a television channel using thetelevision messaging set-top box application.

Communications may also be sent between set-top boxes in the form ofinstant messages. Instant messages are messages that are only storedtemporarily at the recipient end. An instant message is available forviewing by a recipient only for a limited period of time after which themessage is purged from memory. The message is purged regardless ofwhether the recipient actually opens the message during the time periodit is available. Instant messages are useful for transmittinginformation that is valid only for a limited period of time. Forexample, one user may wish to send a message containing the score of afootball game to another user in the form of an instant message becausethe score may change continuously throughout the game.

Referring now to FIG. 4, television display screen 130 provides the userwith the opportunity compose a human-readable message 132 related to atelevision program 148. Television message system display screen 130 mayallow television program 148 to be displayed (e.g., in window 146 of thetelevision screen) concurrently with the interactive message featuresshown in FIG. 4. Program 148 is reduced in size to fit fully withinwindow 146. Advertisement 149 may also be concurrently displayed indisplay screen 130. Advertisements may accompany any of the displayscreens or user interface screens of the present invention.

The set-top box application may display screen 130 automatically at anappropriate time while the user is watching a television program 148.The set-top box application may also display screen 130 upon promptingby the user (e.g. when the user presses a message button on the remotecontrol). Information that indicates that the television program hasassociated message options such as those shown in FIG. 4 may be providedto the set-top box application using any suitable data distributiontechnique. For example, TV message information may be obtained on-demandby the set-top box from a server or with the program guide listings fromthe main facility. If desired, TV message information may be encodeddigitally in-band with the television program signal on a digitalchannel. The message information may be decoded by a digital set-top boxalong with the TV program signal. The TV message information may also bedigitally encoded on a digital channel separate from the TV programsignal. As another example, TV message information may be maintained ata television distribution facility and distributed to set-top boxapplications over the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a standardanalog television signal. A VBI decoder located in the set-top box maybe used to decode data contained in the VBI of the received televisionsignal. TV message information relating to any of the herein describedfeatures of the present invention (e.g. surveys, contests, promotions,purchasing merchandise) may be provided to the user using any of theabove suitable techniques.

The decoded data may then be used by the set-top box application todetermine whether an option exists for the user to send a message to aTV program entity based on the received data. The data decoded by theset-top box also can indicate which message options are available andthe return path or destination address to which the messages can be sent(e.g. the e-mail address of a television program entity which isdesignated to receive and process the messages from the users). Ifdesired, TV message information may be provided using an out-of-banddata path. Such information may also be provided as a digital datastream that accompanies other streams of digital data (such as digitaldata for various television programs).

Screen 130 allows the user to send a human-readable message 132 (e.g., atext message or a graphic message containing text) to the TV channelwhich broadcasts program 148 by selecting option 134, the televisionprogram producers of program 148 by selecting option 136, or anindividual cast member of program 148 by selecting an option such asoption 138 or option 140. Television channels include networks such asABC, local affiliates, local broadcast stations, pay-per-view channels,cable channels such as HBO and CNN, etc. Once the user of the set-topbox application has chosen one or more desired recipients of themessage, the user may send the message by selecting send option 142.

The television message system will then deliver the message to atelevision program entity such as a television message facilityassociated with the television channel that is designated to receivemessages from users of user television equipment devices. The televisionprogram entity will process the messages, and respond to them ifnecessary. For example, a designated television channel representativeat the television program entity may read and respond to messages sentto the television channel. The television program entity who actuallyreceives the message from the user may also be, for example, thepersonal e-mail address of a cast member or program producer. The usermay cancel the message and return to a full screen view of the currentprogram 148 by selecting option 144.

An illustrative process for sending a message to a television programentity recipient is shown in FIG. 5. At step 170, the set-top boxapplication (i.e. the interactive program guide with message features orthe stand-alone messaging application) functioning on the usertelevision equipment provides the user with an opportunity to send amessage to a television program entity recipient, for example, thetelevision channel, television program producers, or individualtelevision program cast members. The set-top box application may providethe user with an opportunity to indicate a desire to send the message bydisplaying an interactive screen such as screen 130 (FIG. 4). Theinteractive screen may be displayed automatically or when the set-topbox application is prompted by the user. The interactive screen mayprovide the user with an opportunity to enter the text of a message anddesignate the intended recipients of the intended message. If desired,the recipients of the message may be preselected if there is only onepotential recipient of the message. The user may then enter the messageinformation. The message information may include the text of the messageand may include the designated recipients.

At step 172, the television message system sends the message to amessage server associated with the television program entity which isdesignated to receive and process messages relating to the televisionprogram, or channel. The set-top box application may obtain theinformation necessary to forward the message to a television programentity (e.g. the recipient's destination address) from the program guideinformation obtained from the main facility or from data associated witha television program (e.g., data embedded in the VBI of the televisionprogram signal). The destination address may be an e-mail address orother information identifying a location where electronic messages maybe sent. The destination address may also be stored at the televisiondistribution facility. In this case, the set-top box application mayforward the message to the television distribution facility, which wouldthen forward the message to its destination.

The television messaging set-top box application may also present theuser with the option of entering profile information data for users inthe user's household. An illustrative television messaging systemdisplay screen 420 that the television messaging set-top box applicationmay present on a user's television set to enter user profile informationis shown in FIG. 6A. The names of users may be entered in box 422. Thatuser's favorite programs may be selected from a pull down or expandablelist 425. Additional programs in the pull down list can be displayed ontelevision messaging system display screen 420 if the user selects arrow426. The user's favorite categories of programs such as sports programs,movies, news segments, sitcoms, etc. may also be selected from pull downlist 432. The user can select arrow 438 so that additional categories ofprograms may be displayed. The user's favorite channels may be selectedfrom a pull down list 430. The user can select arrow 428 so thatadditional channels may be displayed on the user's television displayscreen. Information about the user that is not related to TV programsmay also be entered as part of the user's profile (e.g. birth date,place of residence, age, etc.). The user may enter his city and state ofresidence in regions 441 and 443 of screen 420.

Television display screen 420 may also provide the user with anopportunity to filter the messages that are sent to that user. The usermay specify that all incoming messages are to be blocked, except forthose other users whom the user identifies in box 435. Alternatively,the user may specify that only messages from certain recipients shouldbe blocked. The user may identify these recipients in box 437. Thefiltering function may be performed by the set-top box or by the messageequipment. The set-top box or the server checks all the incomingmessages and does not accept messages from the blocked recipients.

A user may select OK option 436 when he has finished entering userprofile information. The data entered is preferably stored in theset-top box, but may be stored at a remote server or elsewhere in thehardware of the user television equipment device such as a separatestorage unit connected to the set-top box. The user may select canceloption 439 to exit display screen 420. User profile information will notbe saved if the user selects cancel option 439. Further features of anillustrative system for entering user profile information are describedin Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/034,934 filed Jun.11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In addition, the message system may be configured similar to the ICQsystem so that a user may make his profile information public so that itcan be accessed by other users. ICQ is an Internet tool that informsInternet user's who is on-line at any time and enables users to contactthem at will. ICQ can search for an individuals on-line and alert a userwhen they log on. ICQ allows a user to chat, send messages, files,URL's, play games, or just hang out with fellow Internet users whilesurfing the Internet.

A user may fill out a questionnaire through the message system whichincludes information regarding the user's television program preferencesas well as additional non-television related information about himselfsuch as his hobbies (e.g. using display screen 420). The user profileinformation may be useful for finding other users who are interested inexchanging messages relating to certain topics. The user profileinformation may be stored at a remote server or jointly on the set-topboxes. A user may access profiles which have been made public and form a“buddy list” or address book of other users who have the same interests.The buddy list can include a user's identity, TV preferences, and otherinterests.

The message system may be set up so that a user must obtain permissionfrom a second user before he is able to obtain the second user's profileinformation. For example, the message system may send the second user amessage indicating the first user has requested the second user'sprofile information. If the second user accepts the request, the messagesystem allows the first user to add the second user to his buddy list sothat he can have access to the second user's profile information. Inaddition, the message system may ask the second user if he wishes to addthe first user to his buddy list. A user may add further information tothe profile based on his knowledge of the other user's preferences. Themessage system may also allow users to search for other users based onan ICQ number, an e-mail address, TV program preferences, and/or otherpreferences.

An illustrative television messaging system display screen 421 that thetelevision messaging set-top box application may present on a user'stelevision set to enter user identity information is shown in FIG. 6B.Television messaging system display screen 421 in FIG. 6B provides theuser of the user television equipment with an opportunity to enter auser's name in box 423, and a user's address in box 427. Identities forusers of user television equipment devices and user communicationsequipment devices may be entered in display screen 421. For example, ane-mail address may be entered in box 427 for users of usercommunications equipment. A user of a user television equipment devicemay have an address which is a unique identifier assigned to aparticular user allowing a message server to restrict access to amessage only to the proper recipient. The address for the user of a usertelevision equipment may be entered in box 427.

When the user selects OK option 429, the set-top box application willsave the user identity information (i.e. the user's name and address) ina memory device such as memory 25 in FIG. 1A. The user identityinformation may also be stored at a server instead of a set-top box.When the user selects cancel option 431, the set-top box applicationwill exit display screen 421 and will not save any information the userhas entered in boxes 423 and 427. The user selects option 433 if theuser wishes to add the user identity entered in boxes 423 and 427 to agroup of identities that will appear as a single entry in an addressbook, such as “Hockey Fans” in address book 440 shown in FIG. 6C. Theidentity group feature allows the user to compile a list of theidentities of friends who enjoy watching the same television program,channel, or category of programs into a group. The user can then send amessage to everyone in that group while watching a television programthat everyone in the group is interested in by selecting that group inthe address book. The members of the group of identities will receivethe message on their set-top box and will be able to read it while theyare watching the same television program as the sender of the message.

The identities of users whose identity information has been entered indisplay screen 421 of FIG. 6B may be displayed by the set-top boxapplication in an address book format on the television screen. Thetelevision messaging system display screen shown in FIG. 6C is anexample of such an address book. Address book display screen 440displays a list of identities 442 of users or groups of users. The userscan be individuals such as Mary Smith, or groups of individuals such asHockey Fans as illustrated by the names in the list 442. An individualuser may be part of more than one group in the address book. Forexample, Mary Smith may appear in the address book as an individual, andbe a member of the groups “Seinfeld Fans” and “Movie Lovers.” List 442may contain groups of individuals who are interested in a particularprogram, type of program, or any other group identified by the user suchas “Hockey Fans,” “Members of Hiking Club,” “Seinfeld Fan Club,” or“Movie Lovers.” The groups need not be TV-related. If desired, theset-top box application may present a pop-up option on the televisionscreen to send a message to the individuals in a list in the addressbook when the user is watching a related television program (e.g.Seinfeld).

The user may select a recipient or recipients of a message,recommendation, gift, reminder, etc., by selecting an identity oridentities in the list. Option 444 is highlighted to indicate that theuser has selected “Seinfeld Fans” to be a recipient of a message. Theuser may select as many recipients of the message as he desires from thenames in the list. The user may choose to enter additional identities ofother users by selecting option 446 which returns the user to televisiondisplay screen 421 in FIG. 6B.

When the user has selected the recipients of the message (e.g., usingarrow keys and pressing enter), the user may then position the highlightregion on OK option 448 and press enter. The television messagingset-top box application may then retrieve the addresses for eachrecipient of the message. The television message system may then deliverthe message to the appropriate message equipment for each of therecipients. The user may select option 450 to cancel and exit from theaddress book display screen 440.

Referring now to FIG. 7, television display screen 180 allows a user ofuser television equipment to evaluate the television program that theuser is viewing. The user can select one of options 182, 184, 186, and188 to evaluate the program displayed in window 198. The televisionprogram is concurrently displayed in window 198 to assist the user inevaluating the program. Advertisement 197 may also be displayed onscreen 180. The user can augment the evaluation by entering additionaltext comments in box 190 that may be distributed to recipients with theprogram evaluation. The user can select who the program evaluation willbe sent to. The user can send the program evaluation to a televisionprogram entity such as the TV channel that broadcasts the televisionprogram (or an associated entity that compiles TV program data for theTV channel) by selecting option 192. An evaluation may include a simplescore such as “good” or “bad,” and it may include textual commentary.

The user can select option 194 to send the evaluation to other users ofuser television equipment as a recommendation to watch or not watch theparticular program. The set-top box application will then display a useraddress book such as display screen 440 so the user can choose thedesired recipients of the recommendation. The user may then select sendoption 199 to send the evaluation to the designated recipients. Theset-top box application includes the identity of the TV program alongwith the evaluation or recommendation message. The television messagesystem may then forward the evaluation to the destination addresses ofthe television program entity obtained from the program guideinformation or from data associated with the program. The televisionmessage system may transmit the recommendation to message equipment(e.g. server) for access by the recipient users of user televisionequipment. The communications paths in FIGS. 1A, 2A, 2B, and 3illustrate the types of paths that may be used with these processes.Evaluations collected by this system from users may then be transmittedto the set-top box application and displayed in a variety of formats.For example, an interactive TV display screen may indicate that 37% ofthe viewers gave the program 4 stars, 46% gave it three stars, 10% gaveit 2 stars, and 7% gave it 1 star.

An illustrative process for sending a television program evaluation orrecommendation to a recipient is shown in FIG. 8. At step 220, thetelevision messaging set-top box application functioning on the usertelevision equipment provides the user with an opportunity to evaluate atelevision program. The set-top box application may provide anopportunity to evaluate a program by displaying an interactivetelevision display screen such as display screen 180 in FIG. 7. Ifdesired, the set-top box application may provide the user with anopportunity to evaluate a program by pressing buttons on his remotecontrol. The user may then enter program evaluation or recommendationinformation for the television program following the options orinstructions displayed on the user's television.

At step 224, the television message system delivers the evaluation orrecommendation to the destination address or return path. If the addressinformation is not known, the evaluation or recommendation may betransmitted to a return path which may be, for example, the user'stelevision distribution facility. If the television distributionfacility has sufficient information, the television distributionfacility may forward the evaluation or recommendation to the appropriatedestination.

The television messaging system of the present invention may alsoprovide a fast and efficient way to gather ratings for televisionprograms. A TV program rating is an estimate of the number of people whoare watching a television program based on a survey of a selected groupof people. In the television messaging system of the present invention,each set-top box connected to a given television distribution facilitymay send a message to the TV channel or an associated entity indicatingwhether the user is watching the current television program. A ratingmay be determined from this data if the sampling is taken from a largeenough group. This system provides television channels and ratingsservices with a way in which to gather up-to-the-minute ratings ontelevision programs from users who are currently watching the programs.

As shown in FIG. 9, television messaging display screen 230 may be usedto provide the user with an opportunity to participate in a surveyrelating to television programming (e.g. a particular television programor a group of television programs). Television messaging system displayscreen 230 may provide a user with an opportunity to enter answers toquestions 1 and 2 by selecting one or more of options 232 a-c and 234a-d respectively. The set-top box application may obtain the surveyquestions and the return path from the program guide informationtransmitted from the main facility. Alternatively, some of thisinformation may be encoded into the television messaging set-top boxapplication. Advertisement 235 may be displayed on screen 230 with thesurvey questions.

If desired, the survey questions and return path (or destinationaddress) may be encoded digitally in-band with the television programsignal on a digital channel, provided in the VBI signal, or otherwiseprovided as data associated with the television program. The set-top boxapplication functioning on the user television equipment may then decodethe survey data from the program signal or other associated path, andindicate the availability of the survey option on a program listingsmenu in an interactive format so that the user may access the survey(see, e.g., FIG. 13).

The user may answer an additional set of survey questions by choosingoption 236. The user can send the responses he has given to the surveyquestions by choosing option 238. The television message system willthen deliver the survey answers as a survey message to the return pathor destination address (e.g., a television program entity such as atelevision channel survey center) for processing. The user can canceland return to a menu or to a television program by choosing canceloption 240. If desired, the television messaging set-top box applicationmay provide the user with inducements for completing a survey, such as achance to win a free month of programming or the like.

As shown in FIG. 10, a television messaging system display screen 250may provide the user with an opportunity to participate in a promotionrelated to television programming. The television channel thatbroadcasts a television program may be offering a promotional drawing asshown in FIG. 10. A reduced-sized image of the television program isdisplayed in window 256. An advertisement is displayed in region 255.The user can enter the drawing by selecting option 252 or may decline byselecting option 254. If the user selects option 252, the televisionmessage system will forward a promotion message to the return path ordestination address of the television program entity that is handlingthe promotion (e.g. the television channel or an associated facility) sothat the user will be entered in the drawing. The promotion message mayinclude the user's name and address.

The television message system will then deliver the message to atelevision program entity associated with the television channel thatbroadcasts program 256 for processing. The return path or destinationaddress of a television program entity and the other promotioninformation displayed on screen 250 may be obtained using any suitabletechnique including encoding it digitally in-band with the televisionprogram signal on a digital channel, embedding it in the program signalVBI, otherwise providing it as data associated with the program, ordownloading it to the set-top box 26 from a server or the main facility16 (FIG. 1A). Television message display screen 250 may request that theuser enter his name and address and demographic information such as theuser's programming preferences if the user decides to enter the drawing.The television program entity can then send additional promotionalinformation to the user based on the user's interests. The televisionprogram entity (e.g. the television channel) selects a winner from thepool of users who have entered the drawing. The winner may be announcedat the end of the program. This promotion technique permits users ofuser television equipment devices to participate in promotions simplyand easily without leaving their living rooms. A television programpromotion will encourage users to watch the program and thereby increaseratings.

Referring now to FIG. 11, the television message system may provide auser of user television equipment with an opportunity to participate ina television program contest. The program “Jeopardy for Home Viewers”may be vertically compressed to fit in the upper half screen, may betruncated by overlaying instructions on its lower half, or may bedisplayed using any other suitable arrangement. In any case, at least aportion of the program is visible to the user in upper portion 411 ofscreen 410. A contest user interface 416 is simultaneously displayed inthe lower portion of television display screen 410. This format allows auser to view a television program and participate in a contest at thesame time. While a user is listening to questions being asked on theprogram “Jeopardy for Home Viewers,” he can enter answers to thequestions in box 412. The questions can also be displayed in the contestuser interface 416 portion of screen 410. When the user is satisfiedwith his answer he can send it as a contest message to the return pathor destination address by choosing option 414 or by pressing Enter onhis remote control. The return path or destination address of thetelevision program entity that receives the contest answers may be thetelevision program broadcast facility that broadcasts the televisionprogram. An advertisement may be displayed in region 415.

The contest questions and other contest information (e.g., the returnpath) may be encoded digitally in-band with the television programsignal on a digital channel, embedded in the VBI of the televisionprogram signal, or may be provided as other associated data or may betransmitted from a server to the set-top box over a separate channel.These arrangements allow contest information (such as contest questions)and the program signal to be continuously received by the set-top boxduring the course of a program. The contest information that appears onthe interface screen 416 may be updated as it is received on the set-topbox. Because the set-top box is receiving the television program signalfor the TV program and the contest information concurrently, displayscreen 416 may be synchronized with the action occurring in the programas it unfolds. The winners of the contest can be determined immediatelyand may be announced during the course of the program. This aspect ofthe present invention allows television channels to implementinteractive television programming for their users.

An illustrative process for allowing a user to participate in a contest,promotion, or survey is shown in FIG. 12. At step 400, the set-top boxapplication functioning on the user television equipment provides theuser with an opportunity to enter survey, promotion, or contestinformation. This opportunity may be provided in the form of displayscreens such as display screens 230, 250, and 410 of FIGS. 9, 10, and11, respectively. The user may enter appropriate survey, promotion, orcontest information following the on-screen prompts provided in thedisplay screens. At step 402, the television message system delivers thesurvey, promotion, or contest information to the return path ordestination address for processing. If desired, step 402 may involve thestep of using the television message system to transmit the message tothe television distribution facility so that the message can betransmitted to the appropriate destination (e.g. a television programentity).

As shown in FIG. 13, program guide listings that are received by theset-top box from the program guide database at the main facility mayindicate which television programs have interactive user messagefeatures available (e.g., a evaluation, contest, promotion, or surveyfeature). Television message system display screen 150 allows users toview which messaging features are available with respect to televisionprograms that are being aired in a given time slot.

The user may enter a time slot in box 164 or otherwise select a timeslot of interest. The set-top box application then displays programlistings in column 154 for programs that are scheduled to be broadcastat the time indicated in box 164 on the channel in column 152. Themessaging features available with respect to a given program aredisplayed by the set-top box application in column 156. For example, theprogram Wheel of Fortune is offering a contest which a user canparticipate in. The user can highlight contest option 162 and pressenter on his remote control to enter the Wheel of Fortune contest. The Iicon in circle 158 indicates that the channel has provided moreinformation with respect to the Wheel of Fortune contest which the usermay be interested in reading before entering the contest. The set-topbox application may provide the user with an opportunity to review thisinformation before the user is entered into the contest. Also, the usermay simply view the program Wheel of Fortune by highlighting the Wheelof Fortune option 155 and pressing enter on the remote control. The usercan scroll up or down to view the program listings and messagingfeatures for more programs and channels as indicated by arrows 160. Anadvertisement may be displayed on screen 150 such as the one in region157.

The features described with respect to FIG. 13 may be provided for inany format of listings. For example, the TV message system may provide alist of all of the message features for programs airing on a selected TVchannel. The TV message system may also allow a user to search forprograms by category or alphabetically, and list associated messagefeatures for each program. If desired, TV messaging features may beprovided on a program information screen which allows a user to accessmultiple features related to the program, including the messagingfeatures described in this application.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to the ability of thetelevision message system to transmit reminder messages between users.Reminder messages are messages that are sent by one user to another userto remind the other user to watch a particular television program.Television message system display screen 260 of FIG. 14 is an example ofa user interface that permits the user to send a reminder message to theset-top box of another user. A user may get to information screen 260 byselecting a program in the program guide listings and then pressing the“info” button on the remote control. The program guide listings containinformation on programs that are currently airing on all availablechannels as well as programs that will be broadcast at future times.Information regarding the program selected in the listings is displayedin region 262 of information screen 260. The user can set a reminder forhimself to watch the selected program by selecting option 264. The usercan send a reminder to another user of a user television equipmentdevice by selecting option 266. After the user selects option 266,pop-up region 276 appears in information screen 260. The user enters therecipient user's address information in region 270. The location addressmay include a unique code identifying the user and the message serverfrom which the recipient user can receive messages. The user may alsochoose the recipient's identity from the address book by choosing option272. More than one recipient may be entered. After the user has chosen arecipient, the user selects Done option 274. The reminder message is nowtransmitted to the recipient(s). An advertisement may also be displayedin region 275.

A reminder message may also be sent to a user of a user televisionequipment device from a web site that has program listings and thatsupports the transmittal of reminder messages such as www.tvguide.com.An Internet user may select a program from the listings displayed on theweb site and enter the address of the recipient user. The web sitetransmits the reminder message to the recipient via a server.

Referring now to FIG. 15, television display screen 280 shows how areminder message that has been sent by one user and received on theset-top box of another user may be displayed. The recipient's set-topbox application displays the reminder message a short time (e.g., 10minutes) before the program that is related to the reminder is to air,regardless of the time that the set-top box receives the remindermessage. If desired, the reminder message may be displayed at othertimes or more than once. For example, the reminder may be displayed whenthe user first turns on the television set within a twelve hour intervalbefore the program airs. The set-top box application may also displaythe reminder the first time that the user turns on the television afterthe set-top box has received the reminder message. These methods helpensure that the user will see the reminder even if he is not watchingtelevision a short time before the program airs.

The illustrative reminder message 282 of FIG. 15 is displayed as arelatively small overlay on television display screen 280 so as tointerrupt the user's viewing of program 284 as little as possible. Thevideo of program 284 may instead be shrunk so that so that none of it isobscured by the reminder message. The reminder message 282 indicates tothe user that the program “Oprah” will air on ABC at 4 p.m. The user canaccept the reminder message by selecting OK option 286, in which casethe set-top box application will tune to the channel that corresponds tothe local ABC affiliate.

Reminder messages can also be sent across time zones or local broadcastareas. When a set-top box receives a reminder message, it will searchthrough the program guide listings to determine when the program will bebroadcast in the user's time zone or local area. The set-top boxapplication then displays the reminder message on the television screenat an appropriate time before the program airs. The user may decline thereminder message by selecting cancel option 288 causing the message todisappear from the TV screen. The identity of the sender of the remindermessage is displayed in region 283. If the set-top box application doesnot recognize the sender, then the sender's address or web site may bedisplayed in region 283. Displaying the sender's identity is useful forallowing the user to block that sender's reminders in the future. Anadvertisement may be displayed in region 285 of reminder 282 as shown inFIG. 15. If desired, multiple reminder messages may be displayed on asingle overlay. The overlay may include both reminders set by the user,as well as, reminders sent by other users.

The television message system may provide the user with an opportunityto block all future reminder messages from a specific sender or allsenders. When a reminder message is displayed to the user, it mayinclude an option to block all future reminder messages from all senderssuch as option 287. The reminder message may also include an option suchas option 289 which allows the user to block all future remindermessages from the user who has sent the current reminder. The remindermessage may additionally include option 281 which configures the messagesystem so that all reminder messages are blocked except reminders fromthe sender of the current reminder. These blocking features may beimplemented to block other types of messages received on the set-topbox. The filtering and blocking functions herein described may beperformed at the set-top box of the recipient, at a remote server, or athe television distribution facility.

An illustrative process for allowing a user of user television equipmentto send a reminder to another user of user television equipment is shownin FIG. 16. At step 290, the set-top box application functioning on auser's television equipment provides the user with an opportunity tosend a reminder message for a recipient user at a remote set-top box.The set-top box application can provide the user with an opportunity tosend a reminder by using an interactive display screen such astelevision message system display screen 260 of FIG. 14. The user mayenter reminder information such as the recipient user's address and thetelevision program information. At step 294, the television messagesystem may send the reminder to the recipient user's message server forsubsequent downloading by the recipient user's user television equipmentdevice.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to sending and receivingtext, audio, or video messages between other users of user televisionequipment and users of communications equipment (e.g., Internet users,users of personal computers, etc.). The messages are similar toelectronic mail (e-mail) in that they are stored on a message server andcan be downloaded onto the recipient's set-top box by the set-top boxapplication at any time. The user television equipment devices maycommunicate with the message server using any suitable network includingthe ones shown and described with respect to FIGS. 1A, 2A, 2B, and 3.Messages can be sent to a user's Internet service provider mail serverfor subsequent downloading by a user's computer. The television messagesystem may also allow users to send program guide information such as TVprogram listings, program schedules, and program information as amessage to other users.

As shown in FIG. 17, the set-top box application may provide a user ofuser television equipment with an opportunity to send a message toanother user through a user interface such as television message systemdisplay screen 300. Television message system display screen 300 may bedisplayed by the set-top box application on the television whenrequested by the user (e.g., when the user presses a message button onhis remote control). Television display screen 300 allows a user tocompose a message and to send it to another user of user televisionequipment or a user of communications equipment.

The user can compose the text of the message in box 308 using a wirelesskeyboard such as the one shown in FIG. 1B. If desired, the user cancompose a text message using a television screen keyboard such as theone shown in FIG. 1C or by choosing from a list of standard messages orwords as shown, e.g., in FIG. 1D. The message sent by the user canrelate to the television program that is displayed in window 304. Forexample, the message “Nice play!” relates to a television program suchas football game that the user is watching in window 304. If desired, auser of user television equipment may send an audio message similar to avoice mail message using the set-top box application to another user byspeaking into a microphone connected to the set-top box. A user may evensend a picture or a video recording of himself (with or without theaudio message) through the set-top box application using a camera thatcan communicate with the set-top box so that the recipient can watch avideo recording of the sender on his television set.

The user may enter the recipient's name or address in box 302. In FIG.17, the name Bob has been entered in box 302. The set-top boxapplication will match the name Bob with an address previously enteredby the user in the set-top box application address book. An e-mailaddress can also be entered in box 302 for Internet user recipients of amessage. The user can designate the message as an instant message byselecting option 303 or a saved message by selecting option 305. Aninstant message is erased from memory at the recipient end after a shortperiod of time, while a saved message is stored indefinitely in memoryat the recipient end. The message in box 308 is only relevant for ashort period of time during the course of the program. Therefore, theuser may wish to designate it as an instant message.

The user may also send an audio message by selecting option 307 or avideo message by selecting option 309. The user can compose an audiomessage by speaking into a microphone connected to the set-top box or bysending an audio clip from a program. The user can compose a videomessage using a video camera, a VCR, or by using video clips or videostills from a TV program. The video may be recorded using a localstorage device (e.g. in the set-top box) or at a server. The user mayalso send video clips from a server-based library. The user may alsosend program guide information to another user as part or all of themessage by selecting option 311. The program guide information may be abrief description of the program in window 304, a portion of the programguide listings, or a TV program or channel schedule. The user can sendthe message to the recipients by selecting send option 306. The user cancancel the message by selecting cancel option 310 and return to aset-top box application menu or a full screen view of the currenttelevision program. An advertisement may be displayed in region 301 ofscreen 300.

As shown in FIG. 18, if the recipient of a message is a user of usertelevision equipment, the recipient's set-top box application maydisplay the message on the television screen some time after it isreceived by the set-top box. The set-top box application canperiodically access all messages that are intended for the user from amessage server and download them onto the set-top box. The messageserver can communicate with the user television equipment devices usingany suitable configuration including the ones shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A, 2B,and 3.

Television display screen 320 is an example of how the message can bedisplayed. The message may be received by the user's set-top box 26 andstored in memory 25 (FIG. 1A). The set-top box application may thendisplay the message on the user's television screen (i.e., on television30 of FIG. 1) preferably in a way that interrupts the user's viewing ofprogram 330 as little as possible. The message should, however, be largeenough so that the user may read it. In FIG. 18, the set-top boxapplication displays message 324 in window 322 in the lower left cornerof display screen 320 while the user is watching television program 330.

If desired, the set-top box application may display an icon such as asmall mailbox in the corner of the television screen or turn on a lighton the front panel of the set-top box to indicate to the user that amessage from another user has been received. The user may then accessthe content of the message by pressing a designated button on the remotecontrol. The message may be displayed in a corner of the screen as shownin FIG. 18 or in a full screen view.

Window 322 displays the content of the message 324, and the sender ofthe message. If the set-top box application does not recognize thesender or the sender's name is not provided as part of the message, theset-top box application may display the sender's path or addressinstead. Message 324 may contain an advertisement or other informationthat the set-top box application or message server appends to it. InFIG. 18, the current score of the NFL game is attached to message 324 inregion 325. Message 324 may also contain a title which may be entered bythe sender or an additional advertisement. Window 322 provides the userwith an opportunity to reply to the message by choosing reply option 326or to clear the message from the screen by choosing clear option 328. Ifthe user chooses to reply to the message, the set-top box applicationcan take the user to an interactive screen such as screen 300 of FIG.17, so the user can compose a reply message. The user may block futuremessages received from the sender by selecting option 321. The sender'saddress is then stored locally or at the message server so that futuremessages from this address are filtered out.

As shown in FIG. 19, the television message system may allow a user ofuser television equipment to transmit a message to another user of usertelevision equipment who is chosen based on television-program-relatedcriteria. The set-top box application may provide the user with anopportunity to select the program-related criteria to use in sendingmessages to the recipients using a user interface such as televisionmessage system display screen 200. The criteria may be other users ofuser television equipment who are currently watching a particulartelevision program (e.g., the current television program) (option 202),other users who are interested in a particular program (e.g., thecurrent television program) (option 204), other users who are interestedin the same channel (e.g., the same channel as that on which the currenttelevision program is being broadcast) (option 206), or other users whoare interested in the same category of programs (e.g., the same categoryas the current program) (option 208). The set-top box application maydetermine the current program by accessing the database of programlistings information stored in memory 25 or on a remote server. Theset-top box application may also determine the current program byaccessing a database (e.g., a program listings database stored locallyon the set-top box or on a server) and using information on the currenttime (e.g. which the set-top box or server has access to using a clock),and the current channel (known from the state of the tuner in set-topbox 26).

The recipients of the message may be selected in a variety of ways. Forexample, the set-top box application may allow the user to view thenames of other users in the address book and to filter out only thoseother users who have an interest in the same program, channel, etc. byselecting option 210. The message would only be sent to the other userswith appropriate interests (as determined by the user). If desired, useraddresses may be provided with information identifying their interests.The set-top box application may then automatically search for users inthe address book who have interests that match the current program,current channel, or category of the current program (options 204, 206,and 208). Users interested in a category of programs may be identifiedin a group stored in the address book such as “Movie Lovers” or “MondayNight Football Fans,” as shown in FIG. 6C. These address book groups maybe selected via option 208. Users interested in a particular program maybe identified in a group stored in the address book such as “SeinfeldFans,” as shown in FIG. 6C. These groups may be selected using option204. If desired, a message may be sent to particular people, entities,or groups that the user individually chooses from his address bookwithout regard to their interests with option 210. In any case, thetelevision message system may transmit messages to a message serveruntil it is accessed by the recipient.

If desired, the television message system can deliver a message relatedto a given program to a particular message server with an indicationthat the message is intended for receipt by current viewers of the givenprogram, users interested in the program, users interested in thechannel of the program, or users interested in the category of theprogram. The message server may group the message with other messagesrelating to the given program, channel, or category. The message serverthen may allow any user's set-top box application to access all themessages for the programs, channels, or categories that the user at thatset-top box is interested in or is currently viewing. Any other userswho wish to access messages relating to a program, channel, or categoryof programs can download those messages from the message server ontotheir set-top boxes so that they can be read on a television set.

A user can indicate to his set-top box application that he wishes toaccess messages relating to a program he is currently watching by, forexample, pressing a message button on his remote control. In a programguide, a user can access messages relating to any program he isinterested in by highlighting a program listing for that program in aprogram guide and pressing the message button on his remote control orby choosing a program guide menu option. The set-top box application mayprovide the user with an opportunity to access messages relating tospecific channels, or categories of programs in a similar fashion.Messages may be download from the message server by the set-top boxapplication onto the set-top box for viewing by the user. The set-topbox application may display the messages in a list format by sender,topic of message, etc. The user may then choose the messages he wants toread from the list.

An illustrative process for transmitting a message composed by a user ofuser television equipment to other users of user television equipmentthat were selected based upon television program-related criteria isshown in FIG. 20. At step 340, the television messaging set-top boxapplication functioning on the user television equipment provides theuser with an opportunity to send a message to other users based upontelevision-program-related criteria. The set-top box application mayprovide this opportunity by displaying a user interface such astelevision message system display screen 200. The message to be sent maybe, for example, a recommendation to watch a program. The message may beentered into the set-top box application using, for example, displayscreen 180 in FIG. 7. If desired, the message may relate to the contextof a program entered using, for example, television message systemdisplay screen 300 of FIG. 17. The user may choose recipients for amessage from the options provided by, for example, television messagesystem display screen 200 of FIG. 19. At step 342, the televisionmessage system transmits the message to a message server for access bythe recipient users.

The set-top box application may provide the user with an opportunity tosend a gift to another user of user television equipment or a user ofcommunications equipment (e.g., an Internet user). As shown in FIG. 21,a television message system display screen 350 may be used to allow theusers to scroll through television program listings 352 to find aparticular television program. The program listings may be organized bybroadcast time and by channel. The program guide listings may includepay-per-view channels such as PPV1 and PPV2. The user may be providedwith an option to purchase a pay-per-view program such as “Titanic” onchannel PPV1. Option 364 is highlighted to indicate that the user hasselected “Titanic.”

Television message system display screen 350 may display the giftoptions that are available for a particular program that the user hasselected from the program listings. Information regarding which giftoptions are available for a particular channel or program may be part ofthe program guide information that the set-top box receives from themain facility, encoded digitally in-band with the television programsignal on a digital channel, provided in the VBI signal, or otherwiseprovided as data associated with the television program. If gift optionsare available for “Titanic,” the set-top box application will displaythe gift options such as gift options 354, 356, and 358 that areavailable for the program that the user has chosen. Gift option 354allows the user to purchase program merchandise for another user. Giftoption 356 allows the user to purchase a pay-per-view program foranother user to watch, such as “Titanic” on PPV1. Gift option 358 allowsthe user to purchase a gift certificate for program merchandise, apay-per-view program viewing coupon, etc. The user may enter theidentity of the recipient of the gift by choosing option 360. Giftinformation relating to a TV program may also be provided for a specificprogram on a program information screen that a user can access byhighlighting the program in the listings grid and then pressing an“info” button on the remote control.

A gift may be processed when the user selects send option 362. Giftinformation may be sent to a television distribution facility or atelevision program entity for processing. The user's account at thetelevision distribution facility may be debited for the cost of the giftor another suitable accounting mechanism may be used. The recipient of agift may be notified of the gift by a message received on therecipient's set-top box or e-mail to an Internet user. Gift merchandisemay be shipped to the recipient. If the gift is a pay-per-view program,the recipient's pay-per-view account may be credited by the amount ofthe gift or gift certificate. If the recipient is not a user of usertelevision equipment (e.g., the recipient is an Internet user), therecipient may be notified of the gift and given an access code thatallows the recipient to view free pay-per-view programs on histelevision up to the amount of the gift. If the recipient is asubscriber to the services of the same television distribution facility16 as the gift giver, the access code may be provided by that televisiondistribution facility and may be released by the same televisiondistribution facility.

If desired, television distribution facilities may be networked togetherso that a gift giver and recipient may be subscribers in differenttelevision distribution facilities. The TV message system may alsoauthorize a specified gift PPV program automatically for the recipientwithout requiring an access code. In another embodiment, the localprogram guide that receives the PPV gift may allow the recipient of thegift to access the PPV program without charging the recipient andwithout requiring an access code.

Referring now to FIG. 22, television message system display screen 370is an example of a user interface that allows a user to purchaseprogram-related merchandise. The set-top box application may displayscreen 370 when the user selects a gift option such as gift option 354of screen 350 (FIG. 21). Screen 370 provides the user with anopportunity to select program-related merchandise that he wishes topurchase as a gift for another user. The merchandise options 372, 374,376, and 378 represent items of merchandise related to the program“Titanic” which the user can purchase. If the user wishes to pay bycredit card, the user may enter his credit card number and itsexpiration date in boxes 380 and 382 respectively. If the user wishes tohave his account at the television distribution facility debited, he mayselect payment option 384. An advertisement may be displayed in region381 of screen 370.

Referring now to FIG. 23, television message system display screen 460is an example of a user interface that allows a user to enter giftrecipient identity and address information. The set-top box applicationmay display screen 460 when the user selects an option such as the“enter recipient” option 360 of screen 350 (FIG. 21). Screen 460provides the user with an opportunity to enter information about thegift recipient so that the recipient may be notified that the gift hasbeen purchased, and so that the recipient may receive the gift. The usermay enter the gift recipient's name in region 462. The user may enterthe gift recipient's electronic address (e.g. e-mail address) in region464 if the recipient has an electronic address. The user may enter therecipient's street address (e.g. home address or mailing address) inregion 466 if the gift is a tangible item such as program merchandisethat is to be physically sent to the recipient. The user may enter thegift recipient's television address in region 468. The televisionaddress may be the address corresponding the gift recipient's usertelevision equipment device which has messaging features. A notificationthat a gift has been purchased may be sent to the electronic address,the street address, or the television address. If desired, thetelevision address may correspond to the gift recipient's televisiondistribution facility so that the gift recipient may be credited for apay-per-view program gift or gift certificate that has been purchased bythe user.

An illustrative process for allowing a user of user television equipmentto purchase a gift through the television message system is shown inFIG. 24. At step 390, the set-top box application provides the user withan opportunity to send a gift to a recipient. The set-top boxapplication can provide this opportunity through a user interface suchas display screen 350 of FIG. 21. The gift can be related to televisionprogramming such as program-related merchandise or a pay-per-viewprogram.

After the user selects the gift and the recipient of the gift, thetelevision message system transmits the gift information to thetelevision distribution facility (or a remote server or a televisionprogram entity for e.g. the purchase of program merchandise) at step 392where the user's account is debited. The user's account can be apay-per-view account or other account maintained with the televisiondistribution facility, an account maintained with a television channel,an account maintained at a third party institution (such as a bank), acredit card account such as a Visa account, or any other suitableaccount. At step 394, the recipient may be notified that a gift has beenpurchased for him. The recipient may be notified by the shipper of themerchandise, or by the television distribution facility that handlespay-per-view programming for that recipient. The recipient may benotified by an electronic message that is sent to the message serverwhere messages for the recipient are maintained.

Many of the features of the present invention may be used with a two-wayinteractive display remote control. An example of a display remotecontrol is shown in FIG. 25. Display remote control 480 contains displayscreen 482 which may be any suitable type of display screen. A user maycompose a message to another user using buttons 484. Pressing any ofbuttons 484 causes the selected letter or number to appear adjacent tocursor 491. The user may delete a letter or number by pressing Backspacebutton 486, and may enter upper case letters by pressing Shift button488. The user may enter the recipient's address in region 495 of displayscreen 482, and may send the message by selecting Send option 494. Theuser may navigate between selected regions of display screen 482 usingarrow buttons 498. For example, Send option 494 is highlighted in FIG.25. Therefore, if the user press Enter button 490, the message will besent to the recipient. Pressing the down arrow causes address region 495to become active so that pressing buttons 484 causes letters or numeralsto be entered in region 495.

The user may also view messages that have been sent to him by othersusers by selecting option 492. Option 492 opens up the user's inbox sothat the user can read incoming messages directly on display screen 482.These features give the user additional privacy when composing messagesand reading incoming messages. The display remote control therefore is atwo-way interactive remote in that messages may be composed and sent, aswell as received and read by the user. Further features of anillustrative display remote control are described in Herrington et al.U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/138,868, filed Jun. 11,1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.A display remote may also be used for chatting between users. Furtherfeatures of an illustrative television chat system are described inDeWeese et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,270, filed Jul.16, 1999 (Attorney Docket No. UV-101), which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this inventionand various modifications can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

1. A method for distributing messages in a television messaging system,comprising: receiving from a first user a list of identitiescorresponding to a plurality of users that belong to a group of users;storing the received list of identities; receiving from the first user acommand to transmit at least one message to the plurality of users; andtransmitting the at least one message to at least one user televisionequipment device of the plurality of users in response to receiving thecommand.
 2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the group of users isdefined by an interest.
 3. The method defined in claim 2 wherein theinterest is an interest in at least one of a television program, achannel, a category of programs, a movie and a news segment.
 4. Themethod defined in claim 1 further comprising receiving identityinformation from the plurality of users.
 5. The method defined in claim4 further comprising including the identity information in the list ofidentities.
 6. The method defined in claim 4 wherein receiving identityinformation from the plurality of users comprises obtaining permissionto receive the identity information.
 7. The method defined in claim 6wherein obtaining permission to receive the identity informationcomprises sending the plurality of users a message indicating that thefirst user has requested the identity information.
 8. The method definedin claim 7 further comprising allowing the first user to receive theidentity information from the plurality of users in response to theplurality of users accepting the first user's request.
 9. The methoddefined in claim 1 further comprising determining whether there is atleast one messaging option available for a particular televisionprogram.
 10. The method defined in claim 9 further comprising receivingthe first user's selection of the at least one messaging option inresponse to determining that there is at least one messaging optionavailable for the particular television program.
 11. A system fordistributing messages, the system comprising: an interactive applicationimplemented at least partially on control circuitry configured to:receive from a first user a list of identities corresponding to aplurality of users that belong to a group of users; store the receivedlist of identities; receive from the first user a command to transmit atleast one message to the plurality of users; and transmit the at leastone message to at least one user television equipment device of theplurality of users in response to receiving the command.
 12. The systemdefined in claim 11 wherein the group of users is defined by aninterest.
 13. The system defined in claim 12 wherein the interest is aninterest in at least one of a television program, a channel, a categoryof programs, a movie and a news segment.
 14. The system defined in claim11 wherein the interactive application is further configured to receiveidentity information from the plurality of users.
 15. The system definedin claim 14 wherein the interactive application is further configured toinclude the identity information in the list of identities.
 16. Thesystem defined in claim 14 wherein the interactive application isconfigured to obtain permission to receive the identity information. 17.The system defined in claim 16 wherein the interactive application isconfigured to send the plurality of users a message indicating that thefirst user has requested the identity information.
 18. The systemdefined in claim 17 wherein the interactive application is furtherconfigured to allow the first user to receive the identity informationfrom the plurality of users in response to the plurality of usersaccepting the first user's request.
 19. The system defined in claim 11wherein the interactive application is further configured to determinewhether there is at least one messaging option available for aparticular television program.
 20. The system defined in claim 19wherein the interactive application is further configured to receive thefirst user's selection of the at least one messaging option in responseto determining that there is at least one messaging option available forthe particular television program.